Sebring 12 Hours – GT, GTC and LMPC Qualifying Report

Risi Competizione returned to the American Le Mans Series by taking the 12 Hours of Sebring pole position this afternoon. Gianmaria Bruni posted the fastest lap time in GT qualifying. Ten cars finished the session within a second of each other. In LMPC it was Colin Braun who secured pole position, while Andy Lally’s last lap attempt in GTC earned him pole position for tomorrow.

GT saw Oliver Gavin (#4 Corvette) taking provisional pole early on in the session with Pedro Lamy (#007 Aston Martin) and Gianmaria Bruni (#62 Ferrari) some seven tenths of a second behind after the first timed laps.

Positions changed a lap later when the Risi Competizione driver managed to go 0.04s quicker and moved up into first place. Antonio Garcia meanwhile put his Corvette in third place, but one lap later Stefan Mücke took over that position and the top three was back within a tenth of a second.?? Behind the Risi Competizione, Corvette Racing and Aston Martin Racing cars the sixth place for the SRT Viper of Jonathan Bomarito was a pleasant surprise for the Viper team, which managed to beat the Porsches and BMWs entered this weekend. With the top 10 within 1 second the outcome of tomorrow’s race is too close to call though.

Experienced German driver Pierre Kaffer was the fastest in the LMPC class with just three minutes to go in the session.. The DragonSpeed Mishumotors driver’s fastest lap was a 1:53.838, which put him three hundredths of a second quicker than Colin Braun’s CORE Autosport #05. But on his sixth lap Bruno Junqueira beat both Kaffer and Braun by clocking a 1:53.781. The Brazilian was unable to improve on his next lap as he spun exiting turn 5. On the final flying lap Braun managed to improve again and clinched pole position for tomorrow’s race. Kaffer spun his car leaving him with no chance to improve, while Junqueira was unable to improve and settled for second place.

In GTC Alex Job Racing’s Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #22 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup looked destined to secure pole position, but in the final moments of qualifying and with the Dutchman already slowing down to come back in Dempsey Del Piero Racing’s Andy Lally went even quicker and posted a 2:05.446. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Sean Edwards finished qualifying with identical times (2:05.747) in second and third.